Welcome to Litsy!

Ooh! Look what else appeared! And can you spot another Rae addition? (The Safekeep was already there haha)

@BookishMadHatter !! Thank you so much for this wonderful #AllHallowsReadSwap !

I‘m so excited for both books (they‘re perfect!) and the candies are awesome (yes, I‘m a Smarties pig). How did you manage to colour coordinate this so well? 😆 I love it all!

Thanks again to @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting another great swap! 🎃

#AHRS

Nor surprise that I liked this book since I stacked it from @vivastory review and several other Litsy friends with similar tastes also like it. Jan and I decided on two books for our joint read (my pick this month) and since I couldn‘t decide o picked two. This is a short and quick read with some good twists and turns. I generally love Japanese literature (Japan is at the top of my travel list) and this was no exception.

Finally got around to this little gem of a Japanese mystery written in 1962. Lots of neurotic old ladies living in the K Apartments for Ladies in post-war Japan, many with secrets. Really interesting twists at the end that I didn‘t see coming. A little hard to keep all the names straight as they all sound similar!

Wow, I loved this twisty (& twisted) book filled with mysteries that takes place in an apartment building for women residents leading up to the building being moved due to road construction. A master key which disappears drives much of the story. I literally laughed out loud in surprise at the end & it had me rereading the very beginning. What a macabre gem! I am using this for #toldinnonchronologicalorder for #52bookclub

I'm greatly enjoying this dark mystery. A page turner that made me think of other Japanese crime authors, such as Kanae Mintao (the so-called queen of Iyamisu, which “deals with grisly episodes & the dark side of human nature.“).
#weirdwords @cbee

This was really good. A nice short mystery, no words wasted.
April 2023 #BookSpin

#12booksof2022

In a bid to put 2022 behind me, I'm going to give October, November and December's picks early and all at once!

The Master Key is a series of intertwined events centring on an apartment block in Japan. The Circle is a social horror that challenges our thoughts on privacy and openness. The Guest List was a fun closed island mystery that didn't demand a whole lot of concentration.

ONWARDS INTO 2023!!!

Look what beauty has arrived, eventually! 🗝️😊
Now I'm going to have to find the time to fit it into my schedule... 😎

#Noirvember #noir #Japan #mystery #November #buddyreads
@RaeLovesToRead @The_Penniless_Author

I loved this clever mystery! Just slightly creepy with page-turning drama. And a great ending. Thanks @batsy for putting this one on my radar!

I enjoyed this creepy Japanese thriller about a women‘s apartment building. Perfect for this spooky time of year! 👻

I love this kind of thing.

A twisty, punchy mystery novel made up of interwoven character pieces. Secrets, lies and lots of sneaking about. Plus a bonkers ending to tie it all up with a bow.

One of my favourite Japanese mysteries to date.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Halfway through this one... it's very compelling. I'm not sure what the central mystery is yet, but I'm enjoying wafting from strand to strand.

#readingretreat

@TrishB @scripturient @squirrelbrain @Mitch @julesG @Susanita @Oryx @CGainor3 @Leniverse @rockpools @jenniferw88

Enjoyed this book so much I read the entire thing in two days. What started out seeming as though it would be a series of interwoven vignettes involving the residents of a boarding house for women in Tokyo eventually coalesced into a single, tightly plotted narrative with an ending that was both surprising and yet fit perfectly with everything that had come before it. I've never read a mystery quite like this one. Maximum ⭐️s!

Look what came up as this month's Bookspin pick...

The Universe wants us to do this buddy read, Randy and Sam! @The_Penniless_Author @Yuki_Onna

Dare you argue with the Universe?

An exquisite sense of claustrophobia & dread permeates this Japanese domestic noir, published in 1962. The narrative is structured like a Russian doll with each external event leading deeper into the psychological muck of the women's boarding house, filled with unabashedly strange & wayward older women that society would prefer not to think about. The translation by Simon Grove was awkward at times ("Cheerio"?), but otherwise I greatly enjoyed it.

* 🔑🏚️🧒🩸👵🏼🕵🏾‍♀️🎻
* Would love a sequel to Brandon Taylor's Real Life
* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks for the tag @Bklover and tagging anyone who wants to play!

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

After supper, the corridors echoed for a while with the sound of people walking up and down, the clatter of dishes and the splash of running water in the communal wash place. Then silence fell upon the building, to occupy it, usually, for the rest of the night.

Sometimes, one would hear the sound of a radio or the muffled tones of someone practising on the trumpet. But these noises also subsided...

#BookReport 14/22

I traveled the world this week: from Japan to Argentina to Africa. All three were completely different and all were VERY good.

Today's arrivals... Japanese mysteries with green covers!! Don't they look harmonious together? 😁💚

The Village of Eight Graves is the third (translated) in the series (I believe). I enjoyed The Honjin Murders & plan to read The Inugami Curse next...

This oldie uses a highly original approach to the classic crime story. Set in Tokyo, just after WWII in an apartment complex for single women, mysterious things start to happen. Many of the women carry secrets, big and small, safe in the anonymity of their homes, when suddenly they are revealed.

It‘s a great read! Thank for sending me this one @Vansa such a good choice ❤️

#pop22 #ProtagonistWithMobilityAid #52BooksIn52weeks #UnlikelyDetective

I‘ve never read a mystery like this: so moody and atmospheric, with the looming feeling of dread and decay settling in. The women all seemed like ghosts, floating into each other‘s lives but trapped in their own loneliness. The mystery wasn‘t compelling for me, and the resolution felt convoluted and improbable, but I didn‘t mind because I was so captivated by the characters. Have you read any ‘puzzle mysteries‘?

You absolutely didn‘t need to do this Vansa but I‘m thrilled with these early Christmas 🎄 presents! I love your choices! The Tokyo noir seems right up my alley but I also am curious of the Indian book you chose for me. Thank you so much 💚💚

@Avanders you did not need to send me another book! You are too generous! Thank you 🙏🏽 #cozyswap

From Crime Reads' 25 (More) Crime Books You Can Finish In An Afternoon article
"...reads like The Westing Game on acid"
(Insert take my money GIF)

Japanese style curry with chicken, potatoes, cabbage and carrots, and a Japanese mystery which won the Edogawa Rampo prize in 1962

Full of lunch and working on book 3. 📚 #readathon

Afternoon, Littens! How is everyone doing? I had to duck out for a bit to see a friend visiting from California, but I‘m back and working on book 3. Hope everyone is having a great day. It‘s beauuuuuuutiful here in Maine. - @Liberty #readathon

Who is participating in the @deweysreadathon this Saturday??? SO EXCITED. I have the honor of running social for them on Litsy again. And reading! I‘ve got my reading stack picked out! It‘s mostly books I‘ve been meaning to get to for a long time, mixed with a few I started but had to set aside for work reading. YAY BOOKS! 📚

I thoroughly enjoyed this re-issue of Masako Togawa's 1962 novel, The Master Key. While this novel certainly falls into the mystery genre in the absolute sense, there is more nuance with this one, and someone looking for a rocket-fast pace might be disappointed. There are elements of Kanae Minato's Confessions; Agatha Christie; and John LeCarre's early novels to this. A fun and enjoyable read with delightful surprises. #netgalley